Sixers Stars Hope to Dominate in Philly Once Again With Upcoming Stretch

In previous seasons, South Philly was one of the harshest environments for opposing NBA teams as the Philadelphia 76ers were known to dominate on their home court.

During the 2019-2020 run, the Sixers possessed a league-best home record of 31-4. Last season, the Sixers were 29-7 at the Wells Fargo Center.

On the other hand, Philadelphia struggled when playing away from home. Two years ago, they won just 12 games on the road. The Sixers improved a lot on the road last season, but not like they did this year.

These days, things flipped for the Sixers. When at home, they are more prone to falling short to their opponent as they actually held a losing record in South Philly at one point. Going into Tuesday's game, they are just 10-10 at home. 

Meanwhile, on the road, the Sixers are just three wins away from tying last season's win total as a visitor a little over halfway through the season. 

"It doesn't make sense, honestly," said Sixers center Joel Embiid. "In the past, we used to drive off the support from the fans at home, and this year has been the opposite."

It's no secret that tensions have been high in Philadelphia this year. Not only do the Sixers have a massive elephant in the room with the Ben Simmons saga looming over them without a conclusion in sight, but the Sixers are also coming off of a season where they blew a massive opportunity in the playoffs. 

So, even the slightest mistake made at home can cause an uproar. And Embiid speculates that might negatively affect some players as the team tends to struggle when they get too frustrated.

"At home, obviously, we have a lot of support," Embiid explained. "For me, I don't know, I'm just guessing maybe sometimes frustrations [cause struggles]. Maybe some other guys might feel frustrated by sometimes the [lack of] support. It doesn't affect me, but I'm sure it affects other people, other guys."

While the Sixers haven't consistently performed up to standards at home, they have a great opportunity in front of them as a five-game homestand approaches. 

"At home, we obviously want to be on our best on a nightly basis," said Sixers forward Tobias Harris. "So we know that we have to be locked in as well and be comfortable as a team and just go out there and find our flow and our rhythm. We haven't been our best at home this year, but there's a chance now to make up some ground."

On Tuesday, the Sixers will host the New Orleans Pelicans for a make-up game. Then, the Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, and Washington Wizards will come to town. 

"We got to use this these next couple of games to kind of re-gain our home-court advantage," Embiid finished. The upcoming stretch could help the Sixers get comfortable at home once again and allow them to improve their home record a lot, but they'll have to re-gain focus and find that same togetherness that they have when they play on the road.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.